Review: Bridget Jones's Baby

A winning comeback for both its star and character, Bridget Jones's Baby is a thoroughly endearing romp and quite arguably the best installment of the franchise.

It's been 12 years since Helen Fielding's hapless singleton debuted on the big screen, counting calories, cigarettes and alcoholic units and pining for love. Bridget is now 43, a successful TV producer, down to her ideal weight, and the only one of her friends to be unmarried and single. Gone is womanising cad Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), who died in a plane crash "going down in the bush" and whose funeral is populated by the Eastern European modeling contingent. Also gone but definitely not forgotten is true love Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), now married to another, though by the rueful looks they exchange, it's all too clear that Bridget and Mark are still very much in love with one another.

Indeed, Mark's wife is dispatched just as quickly as she's introduced with Mark announcing that he and his wife are separating and about to divorce when he and Bridget give in to their feelings and spend the night together. This Bridget is older and wiser though - one night of passion can't erase the memories of Mark prioritising his work over their relationship and so she bids him farewell. Of course, saying goodbye is easier said than done especially when she finds out she's pregnant and the baby might be his. Or it might be Jack's (Patrick Dempsey), the dashing one-night stand she had at the Glastonbury music festival who turns out to be a dating website billionaire.

One of the greatest accomplishments of the Bridget Jones films has been having two viable candidates for its heroine's heart. Too often romantic comedies featuring triangles favour one rival over the other but that was never the case with Bridget Jones. Mark and Daniel both had their pros and cons, but either would have been well-matched with Bridget. The same goes for this installment. Yes, the balance is slightly tipped in favour of Mark but the men are pretty much on a level playing field as they passive-aggressively vie for her affections by trying to be the most supportive pregnancy partners. Perhaps the funniest moment in the whole film is the physical comedy that ensues as both men attempt to get Bridget to the hospital in time to give birth. With a traffic jam caused by protestors, Mark has to carry Bridget for a good distance - "I think my lungs just collapsed. But it's not about me." - before Jack arrives on his motorcycle to take over. The panicked look on Dempsey's face as Jack realises this is a two-man job is priceless and the sight of all three of them trying to get through the hospital revolving door is beyond hilarious.

Bridget's original gang - Shazzer (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson), and Tom (James Callis) - are woefully sidelined but there are some wonderful new characters introduced. There's Miranda (Sarah Solemani), the thirtysomething presented on Bridget's show who is as laidback in her sexual conquests as Bridget was overly anxious at her age. There's Alice (Kate O'Flynn), the entertainingly callow young executive who cares more about attention-catching soundbites than actual facts. And there's the superb Emma Thompson as Bridget's obstetrician, who can only look on with wry amusement at the odd menage a trois before her.

Sharon Maguire's direction is crisp though she once again displays an over-reliance on pop songs to cushion every scene. Fielding and co-writers Emma Thompson and Dan Mazer populate the film with many laugh out loud moments, but they wisely let Bridget act her age. Renée Zellweger, of course, is an integral part of Bridget's growing up. She is as quirky and sweet as ever, but this is a Bridget who has come to accept the ups and downs of life and who generally does not need marriage or motherhood to define her success as a woman.

Bridget Jones's Baby

Directed by: Sharon Maguire

Written by: Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Emma Thompson

Starring: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Emma Thompson, Sarah Solemani, Kate O'Flynn, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Celia Imrie, Shirley Henderson, Sally Phillips, James Callis, Julian Rhind-Tutt